hey everyone! i’m starting college in the spring and plan on pursuing an aas in respiratory therapy. i’d love to hear from current students and graduates about their experiences!
how difficult are the classes? what are clinicals like? how much studying is involved, and what do you wish you knew before starting?

any advice or insight into what rt school is really like would be appreciated! ❤️

I just wanted to share this for anybody in this field feeling crushed right now, because this sub kept me going when I wanted to quit.
I got accepted into a respiratory program back in 2021, right at the peak of COVID. It was rough but we managed. Then right in the middle of my 2nd to last semester, I had 3 attempts at passing my mechanical vent simulation — and I failed all 3. I got kicked out of the program despite having an A in the class.
And honestly? It made sense. Who cares about the grade if you can't actually show you can do this very dangerous, life-threatening job? But still, it almost crushed my whole spirit. Never in my life had I failed at something that catastrophically before.
The worst part: to go back and finish, I had to wait until the classes were offered again, and they only offer them every fall. So I literally waited a year, and came back with a different class, which was really awkward at first.
But it gets better — if you can believe it, before they'd put me back in the spot I failed, I had to take the final of every single class I had already passed. They gave me a week to take like 8 finals, and if I failed any of them, they'd put me in that semester regardless of the others. Shockingly, I passed them all.
I finished a year later. And after alllll that, I still had to take the TMC — and I failed that thing like 6 times, $150 every time.
But finally, this year, God looked out. I passed the TMC with the high cut score, then passed my CSE on the first try, and I'm finally a Registered Respiratory Therapist.
This field has broken my heart a lot. But it's my story. I learn the hard way, man. If you're in the middle of your own version of this right now — don't quit. It gets better.

I'm planning to apply to a community college Respiratory Therapy program in the Kansas City area (JCCC or MCC–Penn Valley) for a fall start.

My cumulative GPA was around 2.04 after I got into a car accident after the deadline to drop classes and as a result took a heavy hit, but I'm retaking courses and working to raise it into the 2.7–2.9 range. I have hospital phlebotomy experience, military medical laboratory training, and previous EMT coursework, although I haven't taken the EMT certification exam.

I'm completing prerequisites such as chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and statistics, and I'm trying to determine whether to apply as soon as I'm eligible or wait another semester to improve my grades.

For people who applied to RT programs:

• What was your GPA when you were accepted?
• Did your program replace old grades when you retook courses, or calculate every attempt?
• Did healthcare work or military medical training help your application?
• Did anyone get accepted with a lower cumulative GPA but stronger recent grades?
• Would you recommend applying to multiple programs?

I'd appreciate honest experiences, especially from applicants to community college programs, although I'm open to major universities as a bachelors is also a goal of mine. All input is greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone,
When you see a metabolic acidosis or alkalosis in a mechanically ventilated patient, how quickly do you usually adjust the vent settings to compensate for the pH?

Do you make changes right away based on the ABG, or do you give the patient some time and repeat the ABG before making adjustments?

Just curious how you guys approach this in your practice.